Guard for presses



S. C. GOETTEL. GUARD FOR PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9. m9.

Patented Jan. 11, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

I 1/ k 0 pL/ M w W a "w ,m M M w mfl S. C. GOETTEL.

GUARD FOR PRESSES.

I APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9, 1919. 1,365,315. I Patented Jan. 11, 1921 3'$HEETSSHEET 2.

i Illlllil llllllllllllllllllll Witnesses: 24/ nt@ s. c. GOETTEL. GUARDFOR PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9. {9H}.

Patented Jan. 11,1921.

35HEETSSHEET 3- fly: 11.

UNITED. STATES PATENT ()FFlCE.

SAMUEL C. GOETTEL, 0E CINCINNATI, OHIO.

GUARD FOR PRESSES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 11, 1921.

Application filed June 9; 1919. Serial No. 302,934.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, SAMUEL C. G'on'rrnn, v

My invention relates to guards for preventing injury of operators andothers by machinery and more specially to guards of this character onprinting presses and embossing'presses and the like.

he very readily attached to any usually constructed press of ms kind andwhich will be very effective in operation to keep the operators handsout from between the platen and the form or die or the like when theseapproach, and to avoid injury to the hands by the guard itself.

My invention consists in the combination of parts and in the details ofconstruction and arrangement of parts as will hereinafter be more fullydescribed and claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a partial side elevation of a printing press of well. knownconstruction having my invention applied thereto and showing thepositions of the parts when the platen. and form are about to conietogether,

and showing. by dotted lines. the hand and arm of the operatortoillustrate how the device acts thereon;

Fig. 2 is a similar-view but with the press in feeding position andshowing the hand of the operator by dottel lines, in

the act of feeding the press. to illustrate the free access which thedevice'affords to the hand of the operator when the press is in thisposition; I

F 3 is a plan view of front parts. of the press and my invention appliedtheretoa Fig. 4 is av front elevation of the device embodying myinventiondetaclied from the press and with the press impression screwsindicated by dotted. lines and the triggers shown in section;

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of one of the Fig. 6 is a similarview'of one of the brackets Fig. 7 is a similar view of one of the rods;F g. 8 is an enlarged top end view of the rod;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of'part of a different kind of printing orembossing press and showing parts of a device embodying a modificationof my invention as applied to such a press;

Fig. 10 is a partial side elevation of a heavy embossing press withanother modification of my invention applied thereto the positions ofthe parts during approach to i printing or embossing position beingindi- The object of my invention is to provide a very simple device ofthis kind which may cated by dotted lines Fig. 11 is a partial frontelevation of the same; I

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of this modified device detached from thepress; and

Fig. 13 is a cross section on a plane corresponding to the line 1313 ofFig. 12.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive. the printing press of a well knownmake has the swinging bed 1, carrying the form 2. and drawn forwardunder the action of the main shaft 3 at the front through the medium ofside arms 4 connected to the bed 1 and to the wheel 5 on the main shaft3, which wheel 5 carries on its inner face the cam 6 that tilts therocker-7 through the medium of the rocker arm 8. As is well known inthis kind of press the tilting of the rocker has such relation to theswinging of the bed 1 that the rocker brings the platen 9 into printingposition just before the form 2 reaches it. andso that the platen istilted up for ready removal and insertion of the work during another andgreater part of the rotation of the wheel Other details are concerned inthe operation of the press, but what has beendescribed is suilicient fore plaining my invention.

As is well known iii-this and other kinds of presses, the platen?) iscarried on the rocker 7 by four impression screws 10 which are screwedinto bosses in the platenor its bridge piece and are screwek'l intoears11 forming parts of the rocker 7. with lockplaten is assured. The rocker7 has trunnions in bearings 13 in the side frames 14 of the press; beingheld in these bearings by caps or boxes 15 held to the frame 1 1 by capscrews 16 above and below.

My improved guard, as applied to the press of this construction,comprises brackets 17. Each one of these brackets 17 is made of heavysheet metal and comprises a straight upright part 18 (Fig. 6) with lugs19 and 20 at its upper and lower ends respectively, bent outhorizontally, with alined holes 21. This part 18 of each bracket is tobe held at a respective end of the back part of the platen or bridgenear the top thereof. From the front of this part 18 the bracket iscurved in toward the middle of the press and forwardly thereof and has,at its front end substantially at right angles to the front end part, ancar 22, having cut in from its free end down near its bottom ahorizontal slot 23. These brackets are attached to the press byloosening the lock-nuts 12 on the upper impression screws 10 andslipping the ears of the respective brackets in behind these nuts 12with the screw 10 received in the slot 23. The bracket is adjustedhorizontally so that it clears adjacent parts of the press when swingingalong with the rocker and platen, and then the nuts 12 are tightened tohold these brackets firmly and also continue to act as lock nuts for thescrews 10. These brackets may be thus attached without disturbin theimpression adjustment of the parts if the nut 12 of only one of thescrews 10 is loosened at a time. That is, the mounting of one bracketshould be completed before-beginning the mounting of the other bracket;so that there will always be one securely held impression screw for theupper part of the platen.

The triggers 2 1 are fixed to the frame of the press at opposite sidesof the rocker and platen. Each trigger is made of heavy sheet metal andcomprises a bearing part (Fig. 5) in the shape of an angle-bar runningfrom front to rear of the press with the upper member of the barextending outward away from the platen, and a forwardly upwardlyinclined part 26, having on its front end an ear 27 bent substantiallyat right angles to it, to stand upright, and having a downwardly openingslot 28. These triggers 2a are mounted by loosening the upper cap screw16 of the rocker bearing and slipping the ear of the respective triggerdown behind the head of the screw 16 with the slot 28 receiving thescrew. Then the cap screw right and left ends of the platen and bridgeand has depending rods 30 fixed in it near its end parts and extendingdown through the alined holes 21 in the lugs 19 and 20 of the respectivebrackets. Below the lower lugs 20 these bars 30 are bent horizontallyoutward to form feet 31 that bear down on the tops of the bearing parts25 of the respective triggers 24:.

Preferably these rods 30 are attached to the cross bar 29 so that theymay be adjusted therealong transversely of the press to accurately fitthis part of the device to the brackets 17 so that it will slide freelyup and down therein. As here shown, the upper end of each rod 30 has thereduced upwardly extending threaded part or stud 32 (Figs. 7 and 8) and,at the junction of this part 32 with the main part of the rod, parallelstraight sides 33 are out on the rod, which fit in longitudinal slots 34(Fig. 3) in the horizontal member of the cross bar 29 near therespective ends thereof. Cap-nuts 35 screw down on the studs 32 andclamp the rods 30 firmly to the cross bar 29 once the proper adjustmenthas been made. The parallel straight sides 33 fitting the slots 3aprevent the rods 30 from turning in the cross bar 29 and keep the feet31 of the rods 30 extending laterally outward across the bearing partsof the triggers as before described.

Light tension springs 36 have their upper ends connected to thedepending member of the cross bar 29 in small holes therein nearopposite ends thereof and have their lower ends connected to therespective brackets 17 through small holes 36 in said brackets adj acentto the lower lugs 20 of said brackets.

hen the rocker and platen tilt up for taking off and feeding they moveupwardly and forwardly relatively to the trigger 2 1 This allows thesprings 36 to pull the cross bar 29 down close to the upper edge of theplaten entirely out of the way of the operator. When the rocker andplaten swing downwardly into position to receive the impression theirdownward movement relatively to the trigger 24: causes the cross bar 29to be pushed up due to the engagement of the feet 31 of the rods 30 withthe bearing part 25 of the trigger; this upward movement stretching thesprings 36 which will then pull the cross bar 29 and rods 30 downward atthe next upward and forward tilting of the rocker and platen. The justdescribed upward movement of the bar 24 begins along with the downwardmovement of the rocker and platen and becomes more rapid as the partsmove more nearly at right angles to the bearing part 25 of the trigger;so that by the time the bed 1 and form 2 have come near enough to theplaten to endanger the hand of the operator, should it be between them,the cross bar will have risen so high that the hand in any such positionwill be pushed up entirely away from the space be tween the platen andform as clearly indicated in Fig. 1.

Should the operators hand get under the cross bar 29 this bar will thenalso effectively prevent access of the hand to the dangerous space; andif the hand is caught under this cross bar 29 between it and the upperedge of the platen or bridge during the upward and forward'tilting ofthe parts there can be no serious injury to the hand because this crossbar is moving downward under no more force than that due to its ownweight and the relatively light pull of the springs 36 thereon.

Fig 9 shows part of a printing or embossing press wherein the side arm4: is not spaced so far laterally outwardly from the rocker 7 and platen9. In this kind of a press the bed is generally stationary and the sidearm a, connected to a suitable crank in the bed part of the press, actsin combination with other mechanism to tilt the rocker 7 and platen 9toward the form and bring the platen squarely against the form. Theconstruction of such presses be ing well known it is deemed sufii'cientto merely illustrate the relation of the side arm l to the rocker 7 andplaten 9 and the impression screw 10 entering the car 11 of the rocker 7and having the lock-nut 12. It will be understood that these details arethe same at the other side of the press and that another side arm l hasthe same position relative to them.

On this kind of press the feet 31 of the rods 30 engage with the uppersides of the side arms or connecting rods 4'; thus dispensing with thetriggers 24 of the preceding example. The bracket 17 is similar to thatof the preceding example but generally need not be so long nor so muchoil-set; it usually comprising merely the part 22 having the slot 23'and the upright part 18 directly joining the part 22 and having theupper and lower lugs 19 and 20 with the openings 21 through which therod 30 slides up and down. This, bracket is mounted by clamping it withthe lock-nut 12 with the impression screw 10 received in the slot 23.The cross bar 29 will be understood to be as in the preceding exampleand attached to the rods 30 in the same way to permit transverseadjustment of the rods to the bar; which, together with the transverseadjustment of the brackets 17' as permitted by their horizontal slots23, makes it very convenient to fit the apparatus to practically anypress of this kind. The bar 29 is pulled down by springs at each sidesuch as the spring 36 in Fig. 9 which is hooked to the cross bar 29 andto the bracket 17 near the lower lug 20' thereof in a hole 36.

Another press, which is similar to that of Fig. 9 in having the platenmovable to a stationary bed and having the side arms at close to theplaten at each side, is parttially illustratedin Figs. 10 and 11. Thisis a heavy embossing press; although it will be understood that theparticular modification of my invention exemplified therewith is notpeculiar to heavy presses nor presses used only for embossing.

My invention as applied to this press of .Figs. 10 and 11 is similar tothe example of Fig. 9 in that the rods 30 engage directly with the uppersides of the side arms 4.

The complete equipment according to this example is clearly shown inFig. 12'. These rods 30 slide up and down through bracket blocks 17which are screwed to the opposite lateral edges of the rocker 7. The upper ends of the rods 30" have heads 37 and a round cross bar 29 has itsends fixed to'these heads 37 by set screws 38 in the heads. Coiledtension springs 36" have their upper ends connected to respective heads37 by screws 39 and their lower ends connected to respective blocks 17by screws s0. These pull the cross bar 29 down when the rocker 7 andplaten 9 swing upwardly and forwardly; and yield to permit the cross bar29 to rise above the platen at it swings into impression-making positionunder the action of the side arms a" and other mechanism on the rocker7". The details of this other mechanism being well known in such pressesneed not be particularly described herein.

The device of this example of Figs. 10 and 11, so far as described, willconstitute an effective guard for this kind of press just as in theother examples. However, I prefer to illustrate in connection with thiskind of press additional mechanism in such a guard. This comprises ashutter 41 preferably made of sheet metal and pivoted'on the round crossbar 29 to swing down or to swing rearwardly and upwardly across thespace between the platen 9 andthe form or die 2 as the platen approachesthese. This shutter 41 extends almost the entire length of the bar 29between the heads 37 of the rods 30 and is preferably attached to thebar 29 by means or" hubs l2 at its ends and at its middle around whichhubs it extends about half way and to which it is fixed by screws 43(Fig. 13). This shutter 41 has the recesses 44 extending in from itsfree edge in the proper positions to receive the clamps 5 at the top ofthe bed when this shutter swings closely over said top. The parts ofthis free edge. of the shutter 41 not-removed in forming the recesses il preferably have the rounded beads 46 therealong to present a smoothsurface which will not injurethe hands of the op erator or other objectscoming in contact therewith.

This shutter 41 lies down behind the upper part of the platen and itsrocker when these are tilted forwardly. Until the cross bar 29" hasrisen a considerable distance above the top of the rocker and platen therearward and upward swinging of the shutter 41 would be prevented by theshutter engaging said top. I therefore provide the means for swingingthis shutter rearwardly and upwardly in such a way that it will not actuntil the shutter has been carried high enough to clear said top. Ashere shown it consists of a rod 47 connected by a turn-buckle -18 to aneye-bolt 419 which is connected to another eye-bolt 50 fixed in one ofthe end hubs 1-2 of the shutter. This rod 17 extends down the front ofthe rocker 7 through an eye-bolt 51 fixed in said front and the lowerend of the rod 47 has a head 52 which will not pass through the eye-bolt51. This head 52 is far enough below the eye-bolt 51 when the parts arein their lowered positions so that it will not engage with said eye bolt51 until the parts have risen far enough for the shutter to clear thetop of the rocker as before mentioned. By means of the turn-buckle 18the length of this connection may be adjusted so that this engagementwill occur just as soon as is practicable after this raised position hasbeen reached and thereby swing the shutter across the dangerous space aspromptly as pos sible. For accelerating the return downward swinging ofthe shutter as the parts swing forwardly after the impression, I preferto provide a coiled spring 53 around the cross bar 29 inside thebent-around part of the shutter with one end 5 1 fixed in one of the endhubs 12 and the other end fixed by means of a screw 55 to the cross bar29". Swinging of the shutter 41 thus twists this spring, and the springin resuming its normal condition returns the shutter downwardly veryquickly as the head 52 of the rod 47 recedes downwardly from the eyebolt51.

This shutter provides a still more effective barrier against protrusionof the operators hand between the platen and the form or die.

It will be seen that the device constructed according to any of theexamples is very readily attached to the press and no great skill isrequired for its proper adjustment; and when once properly adjusted itwill not readily get out of adjustment. The comparatively light pressurerequired to operate it makes it feasible to utilize very simplefastening means such as the clamping of the parts under the regularlock-nuts or screw-heads of the press. When these are drawn up as tightas they must be to perform their normal functionsin the press they willeffectively prevent any movement of the parts of my invention out oftheir correctly adjusted position under the normal strains incident totheir operation.

While certain examples of my invention are shown with certain respectiveexamples of presses it will be understood that any example of myinvention is applicable to any one of the presses; and by minormodifications my invention of any of the examples is applicable topractically any printing press, embossing press or the like, and willeffectively function in the desired manner in connection with theoperation of any such press or other machine of that kind. By having theparts of the device adjustable the variety of makes and sizes ofmachines to which any given outfit is applicable is considerablyincreased as is also the ease with which the outfit may be applied toany given machine.

While certain constructional details are deemed preferable in connectionwith my invention, and I have shown and described these ratherspecifically in elucidating the construction and use of my invention, asis required, I do not wish to be understood as being limited to suchprecise showing and description, but having thus fully described myinvention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

1. In combination with a platen and an impression screw therefor and alock nut for said screw, a bracket clamped by said lock nut and havingguide means near one side of said platen, a guard element guided by saidguide means, to move toward or from said platen, and means causing saidguard element to move away from said platen upon movement of said platentoward pressing position.

2-. In combination with a platen, its rocker, an impression screwholding said platen to said rocker, a lock nut for said impressionscrew, a bearing for said rocker, and a cap screw for said bearing, abracket clamped by said lock-nut and having guide means near one side ofsaid platen, a trigger clamped by said cap screw and having a bearingpart near said guide means, and a guard element guided by said guidemeans and. bearing upon said trigger bearing part to be moved away fromsaid platen upon movement of said platen toward pressing position.

8. In combination with a platen, its rocker, an impression screw holdingsaid platen to said rocker, a lock nut for said impression screw, abearing for said rocker, and a cap screw for said bearing, a bracketclamped by said lock nut and having guide means near one side of saidplaten, a trigger clamped by said cap screw and having a bearingpart-near said guide means, a guard element guided by said guide meansand bearing upon said trigger bearing part to be moved away fromsaidplaten upon movement of said platen toward pressing position, andyieldable means to return said guard element toward said platen uponreturn of said platen "from pressing position.

4. In combination with a platen, its rocker, an impression screw holdingsaid platen to said rocker, a lock nut for said impression screw, abearing for said rocker, and a cap screw for said bearing, a bracketclamped by said lock nut and having guide means near one side of saidplaten, a trigger clamped by said cap screw and having a bearing partnear said guide means, a rod sliding in said guide means and bearingupon said trigger bearing part, and a guard element attached to said rodto lie along said platen'and be moved awayfrom said platen by said rodupon movement of said platen toward pressing position.

5. In combination with a platen, its rocker, an impression screw holdingsaid platen to said rocker, a lock nut for said impression screw,abearing for said rocker, and a cap screw for said bearing, a bracketclamped by said lock nut and having guide means near one side ofsaidplaten, a trigger clamped by said cap screw and having a bearing partnear said guide means, a rod sliding in said guide means and bearingupon said trigger bearing part, a guard element attached to saidrodtolie along said .platen and be moved away from said platen by saidrod'upon movement of said platen toward pressing position, and yieldablemeans to return said guard element toward said platen upon return ofsaid platen from pressing position.

6. In combination with a movable press element, a guard element adaptedto lie along the upper part of said press element, means at oppositelateral sides of said press element to causesaid guard element to moveaway from said press element upon movement of said press element towardpressing position, and means for adjusting said guard element and saidmeans relatively to each other laterally of said press element.

7. In combi'nationwith a platen andi'mpression screws near respectivelateral sides thereof and lock nuts for saidscrews,brackets clampedby'theres'pective lock nuts and having guide means near .respectivelateral sides of said platen,-rods sliding in the 'respectiveguidemeans, a guard element lying along the upper partof: said platenand having its opposite end parts attached to said rods, and means uponwhichsaid rods bear upon movement of: said platen-toward pressingposition, wherebysaid rods :move said guard elementawayfrom said platenduring said'moveme'nt of said platen.

8. In combination with a platen and impression screws near respectivelateral sides thereof and lock nuts for said screws, brackets clamped bythe respective lock nuts and having guide meansnear respective lateralsides of said platen, rods sliding in the respective guide means, aguard element lying along the upper part of said platen and having itsopposite end parts attached to said rods, means upon which said rodsbear upon movement of said platen toward pressing position, whereby saidrodsmove said guard element away from said platen during said movementof said platen, and springs connected to the respective brackets and torespective end parts of said guard element to return said guard elementtoward said platen upon return of said platen from pressing position.

9. In combination with a platen and its rocker, impression screwsholding said platen to said rocker, lock nuts :for the respectivescrews, bearings for said rocker at opposite lateral sides thereof andcap screws for the respective bearings, brackets clamped by therespective lock nuts and having guide means near respective oppositelateral sides of said platen, triggers clamped by the respective capscrews and having bearing-parts near the respective guide means, rodssliding in the respective guide means and bearing upon the respectivetrigger bearing-parts, and a guard element lying along the upper part ofsaid platen and having its opposite end parts attached to said rods tobe moved away from said platen by said rods upon movement of said platentoward pressing position.

10. In combination with a platen and its rocker, impression screwsholding said platen to said rocker, lock, nuts for the respectivescrews, bearings for said rocker at opposite lateral sides thereof andcap screwsfor the respective bearings, brackets clamped by therespective lock nuts and having guide means near respective oppositelateral sides of said platen, triggers clamped by the respective capscrews and having bearingparts near the respective guide means, rodssliding in the respective guide means and bearing upon the respectivetrigger bearingparts, and a guard element lying along the upper part ofsaid platen and having its opposite end parts attached to said rods tobe moved away from said platen by said rods upon movement of said platentoward pressing position, said brackets having horizontal slotsreceiving said impres sion screws where said brackets are clamped bysaid lock nuts, whereby said brackets are adjustable laterallyrelatively to said triggers. I

11. In combination with a platen and its rocker, impression screwsholding said platen to said rocker, lock nuts for the respective screws,bearings for said rocker at opposite lateral sides thereof and capscrews for the respective bearings, brackets clamped by the respectivelock nuts and having guide means near respective opposite lateral sidesof said platen, triggers clamped by the respective cap screws and havingbearing-parts near the respective guide means, rods sliding in therespective guide means and bearing upon the respective triggerbearing-parts, and a guard element lying along the upper part of saidplaten and having its opposite end parts attached to said rods to bemoved away from said platen by said rods upon movement of said platentoward pressing position, said guard ele ment having slots through whichit is at tached to said rods as aforesaid, whereby said rods andbrackets are adjustable laterally relatively to said guard element.

12. In combination with a platen and its rocker, impression screwsholding said platen to said rocker, lock nuts for the respective screws,bearings for said rocker at opposite lateral sides thereof and capscrews for the respective bearings, brackets clamped by the respectivelock nuts and having guide means near respective opposite lateral sidesof said platen, triggers clamped by the respective cap screws and havingbearingparts near the respective guide means, rods sliding in therespective guide means and bearing upon the respective triggerbearingparts, and a guard element lying along the upper part of saidplaten and having its opposite end parts attached to said rods to bemoved away from said platen by said rods upon movement of said platentoward pressing position, said brackets having horizontal slotsreceiving said impression screws where said brackets are clamped by saidlock nuts, whereby said brackets are adjustable laterally relatively tosaid triggers, and. said guard element having slots through which it isattached to said rods as aforesaid, whereby said rods and brackets areadjustable laterally relatively to said guard element.

18. In combination with a movable press element, a guard element lyingalong said press element, mounted to slide away from said press elementand to swing over said press element in pressing direction, and means tofirst slide said guard element and then swing said guard element asaforesaid,

upon movement of said press element toward pressing position.

14. In combination with a movable press element, a. guard element lyingalong said press element, mounted to slide away from said press elementand to swing over said press element in pressing direction, means tofirst slide said element and then swing said element as aforesaid, uponmovement of said press element toward pressing position, yieldable meansto swing said guard element from over said press element, and yieldablemeans to return said guard element toward said press element, uponreturn of said press element from pressing position.

15. In combination with a movable press element, a rod slidable. up anddown on said press element, a guard element pivoted to said rod andlying along the top or said press element, a tension element connectedto said guard element, engaging means on said press element, engagingmeans on said tension element engaging with the engaging means on thepress element to cause swinging of said guard element, after initialupward sliding of said rod, and means to cause said rod to slide up whensaid press element moves toward pressing position.

16. In combination with a movable press element, a rod slidable up anddown on said press element, a guard element pivoted'to said rod andlying along the top of said press element, a tension element connectedto said guard element, engaging means on said press element, engagingmeans on said tension element engaging with the engaging means on thepress element to cause swinging of said guard element, after initialupward sliding of said rod, and means to cause said rod to slide up whensaid press element moves toward pressing position, said guard elementlying below said top of said press element during said initial upwardsliding, and then being swung over said top upon engagement of theaforesaid engaging means after said initial sliding.

17 In combination with a movable press element, a rod slidable up anddown on said press element, a guard element pivoted to said rod andlying along the top of said press element, a tension element connectedto said guard element, engaging means on said press element, engagingmeans on said tension element engaging with the engaging means on thepress element to cause swinging of said guard element, after initialupward sliding of said rod, means to cause said rod to slide up whensaid press element moves toward pressing position, and yieldable meansto swing said guard element in return direction and yieldable means toslide said guard element down, upon return of said press element frompressing position.

18. In combination with a movable press element, a rod slidable up anddown on said press element, a guard element pivoted to said rod andlying along'the top of said press element, a tension element connectedto said guard element, engaging means on said press element, engagingmeans on said tension element engaging with the engaging means on thepress element to cause swinging of said guard element, after initialupward sliding of said rod, means to cause said rod to slide up whensaid press element moves toward pressing position, said guard elementlying below said top of said press element during said initial upwardsliding, and then being swung over said top upon engagement of theaforesaid engaging means after said initial sliding, and yieldable meansto swing said guard element from over .said press element and 10yieldable means to slide said guard element down, upon return of saidpress element from pressing position.

SAMUEL C. GOETTEL. Witnesses V CLARENCE PERDEW, JAMES N. RAMSEY.

